The Study Of Life Sciences
by kuresoto
Summary: In which Rey is the new Physics Professor at the University of Coruscant and she belatedly finds out that one of the senior staff of the Physics department is a man she hadn't seen since she was a teenager before he left her without a word. Professor/Academia!AU [Reylo]


"And that concludes the lecture for today. Again, my office hours are as normal so see me then or after class if you have any questions. Thank you."

As the students quickly filed out of the room, Rey started to pack up her things and log off the lecture hall's computer. She was only brought on to teach one semester while Professor Skywalker took leave to travel around Europe; more specifically the less inhabited islands. She didn't mind being asked to fill in for the time being, one didn't really feel right declining Dr. Leia Organa's requests so close to term starting. It frustrated both herself and Dr. Organa when her brother, Dr. Luke-Head-Of-Physics-Skywalker decided on an impromptu trip to the remote islands of Ireland only a few weeks from the beginning of semester for the University of Coruscant. Since then, the Physics department had been stretched thin with the senior lecturers taking on more classes whilst still trying to make time for their own research projects.

"Excuse me, Professor Kenobi? I was wondering if you knew if Professor Ren's assessment would be covering today's lecture."

It had been a few weeks since she started and only now were students starting to approach her after class, albeit not asking questions that she was expecting. "Sorry, but you'll have to double check with Professor Ren since he's the one setting the assessment."

The third year student looked put out before nervously laughing. "Darn, I was hoping you would know so I didn't need to ask him. Well, thanks for today's lecture."

Rey scratched her head in confusion. She had minimal interaction with remaining members of the Physics department but from what she heard between classes and in the hallways, Professor Kylo Ren was known to be the most notoriously strict teacher there ever was. University of Coruscant wasn't a particularly large one with only three other lecturers on staff in the Physics department besides Dr. Skywalker. There were two senior lecturers, Professor Ren and Professor Hux, as well as Dr. Phasma, who had only started teaching a few years ago. The three made up the teaching portion of the Physics department with several TAs to do their bidding. Rey hadn't been properly introduced to the majority of the TAs, only hearing the three refer to the different assistants as 'Stormtroopers' and giving them crude nicknames such as FN-8R or FN-2763.

She wasn't a fan of the impersonal way they labelled the TAs but she shrugged at the thought, thinking that it must be thing between them. The three of them published research papers on the side of their teaching career, topics within theoretical physics. The somewhat brilliant papers published by the three is what made them known as the Knights of Ren; Professor Ren being the leader and main publisher of the papers.

Even though she had been around the university for almost two months, she only exchanged no more than a few brief conversations with Professor Hux and Dr. Phasma but had yet to even meet Professor Ren. There was a staff meeting before the start of semester but Professor Ren had been absent, Dr. Phasma commenting that he had personal issues to attend to. If anything, Rey found it odd that she had more interactions with the other science departments than she did with her own. Within the first day of setting up her office space a month before university resumed, she met Finn and Poe, who were completing their PhD in environmental science and engineering, respectively. They had bumped into each other by the vending machine since none of the cafes were open between semester breaks.

"I did my diploma in Physics and started my PhD in the field too. I got a good two months out of it before I transferred and did my postgrad in Environmental. That Ren is a killer," explained Finn. "They had nicknamed me FN-2187 and gave me impossible hours! Sure, they're highly regarded in the field but they work you to death! I think Phasma is the only one that successfully finished her PhD without going completely mental."

"I'm pretty sure her real name is Pam but since she was called Phasma during her PhD by Hux and Ren, she kept it and it stuck ever since. Honestly, they really are just a bunch of sci-fi nerds," Poe commented as he opened his second bag of chips.

That was two months ago.

Rey sighed as she made her way to the cafe outside the Science building to pick up a sandwich and coffee for lunch. As she waited for her coffee to be made, she shifted her paperwork from one arm to another whilst balancing her sandwich at the same time. Mid-semester exams were on the horizon so she was setting out more quizzes and reports to prepare her students. However, as a result, that made more work for her and she had a limited social life as it was. Finn and Poe were continuously begging her to join them on night outs and she had gone out with them a few times before the semester started but since class resumed, she couldn't find the energy.

"Ren. Coffee for Ren."

Absentmindedly, Rey moved forward towards the counter to pick up what she thought was her coffee but bumped into a black wall instead. Apologies were on the tip of her tongue but froze when the man she bumped into, reached out and took her coffee from the barista. She narrowed her eyes and surveyed the man. He was tall. Tall and wore a lot of black, which matched his dark hair from what she could see. He turned around, coffee in hand, and tilted his head questioningly.

"Rey?"

"Ben?"

Her mind became bombarded with images and memories as she stared wide-eyed at the man in front of her, he too staring back in shock. Shock quickly turned into anger as she glared at dark man. She could tell that he was at a loss for words and wasn't sure how to respond so she did the only thing she could think of: in a fit of panic, she smacked the cup of coffee out of his hand and stormed out.

* * *

Kylo grumbled and ran his hand through his thick hair for the third time in the past minute. He had planned for a quick coffee run, not realising that it would cause more trouble than it was worth. He should have just gotten one of his underlings to fetch the coffee for him, then maybe, he would have successfully avoided Rey for a bit longer.

"I don't know why you thought you could avoid her for the whole time she was here." Phasma leaned on the doorway to his office as Hux strolled in and lounged on the couch situated in the corner.

Hux laughed. "I absolutely loved that she rendered the mighty Kylo Ren speechless, much less made a mess of his clothes in front of everyone."

He couldn't believe how much, and at the same time, how little she had changed. It had been years since he had seen Rey Kenobi, the girl down the road. They had grown up together since the Kenobis were close friends with the Skywalkers and Solos from when their parents were younger. Even though she was a few years younger, they were inseparable. She was eight when the Kenobi's moved onto their street and Ben Solo, who was ten at the time, had naturally been exposed to her since their families were so close. They had gone to the same school so they practically spent every moment together. It wasn't until he was sixteen that his family had to move cities when his parents had both got offered jobs at the University of Coruscant. He never really kept in touch with Rey since he wasn't ever good at socialising and when they were together, it was mostly her who spoke. Honestly, he was surprised when he never received any letters or messages from her after he left the way he did but he left it at that.

Since then, he changed his name when he entered university to not cause any conflict with his relation to two of the most influential teaching staff at the time: Professor Han Solo of Engineering and Dr. Leia Organa of Molecular Biology. That was years ago with his father remaining a professor while his mother was now the Chancellor of Science. His uncle, Dr. Luke Skywalker, had joined the staff in the final year of Kylo's PhD. It was at that time that whispers throughout the student body started. There were rumors that Kylo Ren had a relation to the head teaching staff and that was how he got to where he was now.

Of course, it angered him that such slander was being said about his academic career. As a result, he cut off all communication with his family, to prove a point. He became cold and ruthless, setting a harsh standard for all future students who were serious about starting a career in theoretical physics. The student body had a vague understanding of Kylo's relation to the Chancellor but didn't bother to clarify if it meant being subjected to Professor Ren's wrath.

"Besides, what's the deal with her? Even I've had passing conversations with Kenobi since she's been here," Hux commented as he watched Kylo have meltdown. "Even for an anti-social prick like yourself, you at least attend staff meetings before the semester starts."

"Oh, haven't you heard? They grew up together. Same neighbourhood, same school. From what I can gather from the stories I heard from Dr. Organa, they were quite inseparable. Wouldn't be surprised if they had a thing for each other." Phasma side-stepped and avoided the pen being flung her way.

"Can you both just leave? I don't need you two harping on about my past life!"

Hux rolled his eyes. "Past life? Christ, you are such a dramatic loser sometimes." Kylo stuck his middle finger up and was about to throw a mug in his direction when Hux held his hands up in defence. "Touche, touche. Okay, we'll leave. We're already getting complaints from the financial department from all your breakages around here."

As Hux left, Phasma poked her head back in one last time. "Just reminding you that you're going to have to sort your shit out with her soon enough. We don't need your teenage angst here when Dr. Snoke visits next. Have you considered his offer?"

"Work for a big time pharmaceutical company that could possible piss off my parents more than normal? No, I haven't thought about the idea at all, Phasma," drawled Kylo sarcastically. Phasma rolled her eyes and left without a word.

Kylo sighed and leaned back in his chair. His office was a mess with books and papers strewn all over the place. He found it fitting that it reflected his inner turmoil quite appropriately. He would love to go see Rey, to catch up with her and see how she's been doing all these years. To ask about her how she's finding Coruscant and if she's adapting to the changes okay. If she needed help with any of the equipment in the labs or if any of her students were misbehaving.

He wouldn't though. She was angry at him. He would avoid her for the time being. Yes, that was the smart thing to do.

* * *

Despite his resolve, Kylo found himself a week later at the far back of a lecture hall, listening to Rey give a lecture on force and torque. He donned a pair of large sunglasses and had his hair tied up in a loose bun. He figured if he dressed like those annoying hipster students then no one would recognise him. His facial features were quite large and obvious so he buried his bottom portion of his face into the thick grey scarf he had on to disguise himself even further.

His eyes followed Rey closely, watched her face light up animatedly as she gave her lecture. It was obvious she was passionate about her work and that her enthusiasm was contagious. Most of the hall was paying close attention to her, all except for a group of miscreant students to his right, who were playing a game on the device they passed around to each other. They had been warned twice already by Rey to be silent and they would follow her instructions but that only lasted for five minutes each time.

He sighed in frustration as one of the students in the group let out a loud yell in anger, the student obviously losing whatever game they were playing. Gritting his teeth, he hissed at the group. "If you don't shut up, I will literally toss you out of the hall myself."

The student gave him a weird look and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever weirdo."

"Say that again." He yanked off his glasses and glared at the group.

The immediate students surrounding Kylo all froze, all too well at recognising the voice and dark eyes of their horrifying teacher. The student clammed up and stuttered an apology before the group sunk back into their seats, no longer uttering a sound.

"Is everything okay back there?" Rey called from the front.

Kylo cleared his throat softly. "Yes Professor, everything is fine."

* * *

The moment she finished her lecture, Rey darted towards the male dressed in all black who made a beeline for the door. While the rest of the students were still packing up, Kylo and Rey made it to lecture room foyer, leaving them alone for the first time in years.

Rey grabbed his arm to prevent him from leaving. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Professor Kenobi, I had a spare moment so I thought I should sit in on one of your lectures. You know, see how you're teaching standards are." Kylo tried to look indifferent but that only fuelled Rey's anger even more.

"Oh, so it's 'Professor Kenobi' now, is it? Well, _Professor Ren_ , don't move a muscle. I need to get my things and I'll come back to deal with you." Rey shot a glare at him before quickly running back into the hall.

Kylo remained standing still in foyer, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with the students that came pouring out of the lecture hall. He kept his eyes ahead of him, studiously ignoring all the curious stares being thrown his way. When the crowd started to thin out, Rey came back out of the hall, arms laden with her notes. "Come on."

He followed Rey through the building towards the elevator up to the staff offices and thus to her office. Once in the confines of her office space, Rey put up a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door before closing it. She turned around with her hands on her hips, stoically surveying Kylo who regarded her warily, putting a fair bit of distance between them. "What do you want with me, Ben?"

"I don't want anything from you Rey."

"You don't talk to me, much less tell me that you're at this uni, and now you're attending my lectures?" Rey was getting so frustrated. She hadn't mentioned to anyone her encounter in the coffee shop since she wasn't entirely sure what to think of it. She was close to him. She thought that he valued their friendship as much as she had. Apparently, she was wrong.

"And what's with the fake name? Professor Ren? It's bad enough that you give the TAs dorky names."

"It's Professor Kylo Ren, thank you very much!" He tilted his nose with a harrumph. "I changed it when I started university so not to cause any conflict of interests with myself and the parents."

Rey sighed. "Why did you avoid me? You already moved away without even telling me, the least you could do was seek me out when I started here. We were better than that, Ben. I thought we were friends."

"But I did tell you! You were the one who ignored me and never tried to contact me!"

"Ben, you literally left without a word! You didn't tell me your family was moving! I had to find out from Luke! If I remember correctly, you picked a fight with me then stormed out and that was the last I saw of you!"

"I told you I was leaving! That was literally my exact words!"

"Well maybe if you weren't such a coward then you would have contacted me first when you didn't hear from me!"

Kylo crossed the room in two long strides until he was invading her personal space, his hot angry breaths tickling her face. "What would you have me say?" he whispered in her ear. "What could I have said? Do you even remember what we were fighting about that day?" He pulled back at studied her face. His eyes softened at the confusion and sadness that flittered across her face.

"Yeah, I remember. Some idiots at school always cracked jokes at us. That was normal for us, Ben. I didn't care what they said and neither did you but for some reason, you actually put weight in what they thought!" Anger was coming back into her voice.

"That's not what happened!" Kylo growled, getting more and more frustrated at the circles this conversation was generating. Just as he opened his mouth to explain himself, they were interrupted when Finn barged into the room with a wide smile on his face.

"Rey! You'll never believe what Poe was able to hook up with the spare parts in the lab-oh, sorry. Did I interrupt something important?" Finn took in the scene. There Rey was, with her arms crossed angrily with only a few inches of space separating herself from Kylo, looking equally infuriated.

Kylo straightened up. "FN-2187, the traitor." Finn resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his label as the older man continued. "How are the lower branches of science treating you?" he asked with disdain evident in his voice. He turned around and addressed Rey. "I see you no longer require my presence, Professor Kenobi. I will take my leave."

Finn jumped out of the way as the dark man swept out of the room with a flurry of black fabric. Once Kylo rounded the corner towards his office, Finn grabbed Rey by the shoulders and shook her gently. "Are you alright?! I've never seen him that angry before, he looked ready to explode! It's good that I came when I did."

"I don't need saving, much less from Professor Ren!"

"Okay, okay, sorry. It's just he doesn't make anyone feel comfortable to be around and he's downright terrifying."

"He's not terrifying, he's just a dramatic teenager." At Finn's questioning look, she continued. "We grew up together." Finn let out a low whistle.

"Wow, wonder how that turned out. Was he always that cranky?"

"Not always. We stuck together, kept to ourselves. He was quite charming from what I remember."

"Oh my god." Rey shot Finn a weird look at his outburst. "You like him. You actually genuinely like that guy."

Rey felt her face heat up and mentally chastised her rapidly beating heart. "I was fourteen when his family moved, Finn. I really doubt I knew anything back then." She quickly turned her back to Finn and started busying herself with the stack of student papers in the middle of her desk.

"No, no, no. I've only known you for two months, Rey Kenobi, but I could tell you never really made an effort to meet anyone whenever you actually came out for drinks with Poe and me. You resisted Poe's charm and my dashing good looks-" Rey hit Finn on the arm at that comment but he continued. "-but it all makes sense now. You were hoping to bump into him here! Maybe rekindle your 'friendship'?" Finn wiggled his eyebrows at his insinuation.

"Coruscant is a big place."

"But it's a lot better chance to find him here than it was when you were back in Jakku!" Finn knew that he was chipping away her resolve.

There was a long pause before Rey spoke quietly that he almost missed it. "I haven't had time to ask Leia about it."

"Leia? You mean Dr. Organa? Why would she know?" His eyes widened in realisation. "So the rumors are true? He really is the son of Dr. Organa and Prof. Solo?"

Rey nodded in affirmation. "He hides it pretty well if it's all just rumors around here. Anyways, enough mindless talk, I need to start preparing for my next lecture. I'll swing by Engineering if I have time later today. Although, it seems unlikely at this point." She gestured at the piles and piles of essays starting to build up.

"No sweat, Rey-Ban, we'll catch up some other time. Hopefully after mid-sems are over." Rey waved good-bye to Finn before settling down in her office.

* * *

It was past ten at night when Kylo locked up his office and made his way to the elevators. As he neared the end of the hall, he noticed that there was a light coming from Rey's office. He quietly moved along the halls until he was a few feet from her office. Her office door was open so it wasn't hard to watch Rey from the shadows as she marked student reports. From the looks of it, she was spending too much time on each paper rather than efficiently going through the piles of papers to mark.

"You need a teacher."

Rey jolted from her seat, accidentally leaving extra red marks on the paper before her. "What can I do for you, Professor Ren?"

Kylo ignored her cold attitude and moved so that he was directly behind her. He reached over and took one of the papers on the newly marked pile and examined the notes written in red. "See here, you could have just crossed this whole paragraph out rather than leaving comments in the margin for every mistake they made in that paragraph. I would have written 'useless' in the corner."

She snatched the paper from his hands. "Sometimes you need to give back constructive criticism for your students to succeed."

"Whatever you think is best. But seriously, it's late. Go home." Kylo shrugged and took his leave.

Rolling her eyes, Rey looked back down at the paper in front of her. Not wanting to be giving him the idea that she was following his orders, she waited a few minutes before packing up her workstation. The air was chilly outside as she briskly walked down the brightly lit streets towards the student housing area. Leia had permitted Rey to stay at the student housing since she knew that the younger girl was strapped for cash. She reassured her that a few of the teaching staff preferred to stay close to the university and that there were others staying in her building too, not that Rey knew a lot of the staff there anyways.

She leaned her head gently against the cool metal frame of the elevator as she waited to reach her level. Arriving at her floor, she sluggishly dragged her body towards her front door, not entirely taking in her surroundings as her floor was usually quiet at that time of night. She was so focussed on finding her keys that she accidentally ran into something soft and warm.

"I feel like you're making a habit of bumping into me."

Her cheeks flushed and her eyes widened in horror as she stared back at the smirking face that was Kylo Ren. "W-What? What are you doing here?"

"Er, I live here?" Kylo leaned towards her. "Were you stalking me?"

"You wish." Rey bumped her shoulder against Kylo's as she shoved past him to get to her door. Not having far to walk, she didn't bother looking behind her, assuming that Kylo had gone back into his apartment and left her alone. She almost shrieked when she felt a presence behind her and saw Kylo's large hands placed on either side of her head, trapping her between his arms.

"We could continue our conversation from earlier, if you'd like?" Kylo whispered in her ear. His shoulders hunched over, breathing in Rey's smell deeply. "Rey, my ray of sunshine. You haven't changed through these years. Do you still taste the same? Will you let me have a try?"

The loud noise of silence thrummed in her ears as she tried not to breathe loudly, as if the intake of air would break the moment. Finally, she whispered, "You left me."

Kylo's left hand fell from the wall next to her and clasped her hand holding her keys. His large hand plucked the keys from her small fingers and unlocked her door, swinging it open widely. He pushed them both inside and kicked the door closed behind him. He moved around her until his eyes pierced hers, inching his face forwards, hearing the small shallow breaths of air. He scared her. He knew it, she knew it. He just didn't know why.

Closing the gap between then, Kylo softly grazed his lips against Rey's soft ones. He smelt sweet scents of strawberries and sugar, guessing it was from a snack she had recently. Slipping his eyes shut, he flicked his tongue over her bottom lip, tasting her lip balm and craving for more.

 _"I only like him as a friend."_

His eyes snapped open as he yanked his body far away from hers. He breathed deeply as he took in the wistful look on her face, her flushed cheeks and her glazed eyes. He let out a low growl and he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Rey heard him stomp down the hall, past his room and out of her senses. She brought her hand up to her lips and gingerly caressed them. Her eyes started to blur and she blinked the tears away angrily. No boy, Ben Solo or Kylo Ren or whatever his name was now, was going to make her cry like a little girl again.

* * *

The bright rays of sunlight filtered into the cramped office and fell directly on Kylo Ren's eyes. He gritted his teeth and tried to turn his face away from the sun, unsuccessfully. Finally, he sat up with an angry yell and his cushion being flung towards the window. He ran a hand through his dishevelled hair before dropping his head in his hands.

After leaving the student blocks last night, he found refuge in the labs and started to tinker about with his experiments, not wanting thoughts of Rey to linger in his mind anymore. All he accomplished was a wasted batch of chemicals and a burned hand from his lack of concentration. Not long after that, he fell asleep in his office with the dull throb of pain from his hand at the back of his mind.

His dreams were haunted by their time together, years ago. He was successful in not letting Rey into his dreams before last night but now, he knew he couldn't fight it any longer. He dreamed of her smiles and her laughter, the lightness of her small body as he used to give her back rides on his tall lanky body. He remembered the day he left clearly.

It was after school when they heard the wolf whistles from boys in his grade. They looked at Rey with hunger in their eyes that Ben only had when he was in the solitude of his room. Ben snarled at the boys with snide comments on his tongue, which only made them send looks of knowing at him. They didn't understand what they had. What Rey meant to Ben. They even had the audacity to wink at him as Rey pulled on Ben's jacket towards her house, chastising him for replying to their immature ways.

They passed Ben Kenobi and Leia Organa on the way up the stairs to her room. Once there, they had dumped their bags on the floor. Rey left shortly after to get them drinks and for him to cool his head after their encounter. After a few moments, Ben moved towards the stairs to help Rey with getting drinks and snacks when he stopped short at the conversation he was hearing.

"You and Ben seem pretty close."

There was a pause as Ben held his breath, waiting for her response. "Don't worry grandad, I only like him as a friend."

Ben's face flushed as he quickly retreated back into her room, throwing him down in her chair angrily. How could she think that way? They didn't make anything official since she was still young but he always thought that there was more between them. They had shared a few kisses recently, both of them fumbling clumsily and laughing nervously. His heart in his mouth, Ben had been elated when they shared their first kiss. He knew at the time that his family was moving soon so he didn't want to break the last small moments together in sadness on the idea that he would be leaving. He had planned to tell her that day but hearing Rey so casually dismissing their relationship made Ben shake with anger.

Rey returned moments later with drinks and snacks. She took one look at his face and sighed heavily. "Jesus Ben, you have to stop letting the boys in your grade get to you."

She didn't notice the looks of hurt and anger being directed at her as he stood up abruptly. "I'm leaving."

"What?" She watched him, wide-eyed as he brushed past her and left without another word.

That was the last time he had seen, much less heard, from her. When it was obvious that he wouldn't hear from her, he threw himself into his studies, distracting himself from what could possibly have been.

Now, years later, Kylo refused to let that girl ruin his life again. He had to be careful around her, she was dangerous to be around. He was still on the hedge when deciding if he should move to First Order Pharmaceuticals, but the current circumstances helped his decisions. Yes, after this semester was over, he would leave Coruscant and join Dr. Snoke's research team. He wasn't running away from his problems, he was moving forward with his life…so he kept telling himself.

* * *

Months passed without any incidents between the two, both studiously ignoring the other and delving into their own work. Finn and Poe occasionally came by her office to try to come out with them but no such luck. She was always holed up in the undergraduate labs, knowing that Kylo Ren would be in the postgrad labs during her spare time. She didn't mind the old equipment that was there. Most of the equipment were the older versions of the new machines in the postgrad labs. Understandable since the younger students would most probably break the new equipment. She sighed as she waited for the cycler, nicknamed BB-8 from the old sticker on the lid, to finish and so she could continue sequencing her DNA specimens. She was brought on to teach Physics, which was her minor, but she majored in Biotechnology.

She looked at the clock and mentally took note of when BB-8 would finish. She hoped that Kylo wouldn't be in the upper labs as she ventured towards them but she really needed the primers and probes for her experiment and it was kept in the lab she knew Kylo spent a lot of his time in. Seeing the coast was clear, she did a tiny a fist pump and quickly hurried inside towards the walk-in freezer. She forwent the thick coat that was mandatory for using in such extreme temperatures but she figured that she would be in and out within a few seconds. Unfortunately, just as she found her kits, she heard loud shouting coming from the other side. Rey peaked through the cracks of the blast door and saw Kylo shouting angrily at his mother.

"Why do you continuously waste my time with these requests? I've given my paperwork and that's final!" Rey grimaced as she heard glass shattering on the floor.

Leia tutted disapprovingly. "Ben, stop this and stop destroying my lab. You're being ridiculous! The First Order is not a respectable organisation to associate yourself with! Their products may sound flashy but none of them have approval from the FDA! They're just bringing you on, using you, so that you could possibly help them deliver their drugs more effectively!"

"This isn't your lab anymore and you don't know a thing about their products! I'd be helping with the protein-folding problem! Their research is revolutionary."

"Not the way they're using it for. Snoke doesn't care about saving people or moving science forward. Why don't you ask Rey for her thought about this before you go handing in your resignation like you don't have any responsibilities?"

"What does _she_ have to do with this?!"

There was a beat of silence. "Just reconsider it and talk to Rey about it. You guys used to talk to each other all the time. What did she do that made you so angry?"

Angry footsteps then a pause. Rey strained her ears to hear the conclusion of the conversation but failed. She nudged the door open more boldly and saw Kylo whispering angrily to his mother. Leia looked at her son sadly and cupped his cheek. "You have to let go of that anger to really see what happened. Go see Rey and let her explain herself." Kylo's shoulders slouched in defeat as his mother kissed his cheek. "Come home sometime. Your father misses you."

"Yes, mother."

Rey's teeth started to chatter as she watched Leia leave. Just as she started to devise a way of escaping the labs unseen, her eyes met Kylo's with accidental precision. She let out a squeak and ducked back into the freeze room, hoping that he didn't see her. Unfortunately, a second later, the door was yanked open and bright light flooded the cooler room. Rey squinted at the brightness as Kylo towered over her with his piercing dark eyes. He grabbed her arm and dragged her across the room before dropping her onto one of the chairs scattered in the room.

They stared at each other, willing the other to speak first. Rey broke first. "You're leaving again?"

"What does it matter? We're not friends or anything." Kylo shifted in his seat. "You saw to that."

Rey sputtered indignantly. "W-What? I did this?! You started all this bullshit when you wouldn't even tell your girlfriend that you were moving!"

"Well you were the one who was too ashamed to admit to people that you were dating me!" Kylo snarled. "Who would believe me anyways? The darling girl from down the street, seeing anything in that lanky Solo boy. Do you know what they used to say? That you were miles out of my league, that I would be Solo for life!"

"Why did you even _care_ what people said?! Did you value our bond so little that a few loose tongues of pathetic teenage boys could change your mind that easily?"

"But that's not it! I never believed anything those little shits said! It wasn't until I overheard you talk to _my mother_ that I knew the truth!"

"What are you even talking about?! Tell your mother _what_?!"

"That you only considered us as friends! You didn't tell her or your grandfather that we started dating! Everyone could see how in love I was with you! But you, you were nice to _everyone_! No one expected us to _actually_ date! People never saw you treat me any differently than a friend and I had to face all the grown up's looks of pity!"

Kylo gripped Rey's shoulders painfully that made her wince. "Ben, please-"

"My parents knew! Your grandfather knew! Hell, even Uncle Luke knew!"

"I was scared Ben!" Rey shoved Kylo back angrily, defiance glittering her eyes. "What was I supposed to say to your mother? I was a fourteen year old girl! We both didn't know what we were doing! I choked when my grandad asked me! I didn't know everyone was apparently rooting for us! I liked you, okay? I liked you a lot and I thought you liked me too! It hurt so much when you just _abandoned_ me!"

"What was I meant to do then!?"

" _You were meant to talk to me_!" Rey screeched, her body buzzing with adrenaline and anger. "Before we started to date, we were friends, first and foremost. Friends don't just abandon each other as the first misunderstanding!"

The pair glared at each other, the energy between them simmering along the surface. They remained that way for some time, each waiting for the other to crack first. After a few more moments, Kylo exhaled deeply and dropped his head guiltily, sliding down to sit on the floor. "We both messed this up, didn't we?"

Rey's shoulders slumped as she joined Kylo on the floor. "Yeah, yeah we did."

Kylo kept his eyes trained on his black boots. "Can we…can we start over?"

"I don't know Ben. There's only a few weeks left of semester then you leave, if what I overheard was correct?" At Kylo's nod, Rey continued. "First Order Pharmaceuticals? Really?"

"I've been offered a job there, for a year, to research the nature of protein kinetics. It's a good opportunity." He paused before adding. "It's probably for the best anyways. We both grew up and it's made us different people. Who knows, maybe I hate who you've become?"

Rey scoffed and rolled her eyes. "From what I saw, it's far more likely that I would hate you rather than you hating me."

"We could try though? To be friends, that is. Take small steps and mend whatever is left between us." At Rey's uncertain look, he held up his hands to quickly explain himself. "I'm not saying for us to date immediately! Like you said, we were friends first before anything else."

Biting her lips nervously, Rey thought it over. He seemed like he genuinely wanted to start over. The past months seemed to be rough on Kylo. There were dark circles around his eyes and an unkept scraggily beard was starting to form. "We can try."

Blowing out a breath of relief, Kylo took Rey's hand in his, a smile creeping onto his handsome features. A real smile. "My name is Ben Solo, but for academic purposes, I go by Professor Kylo Ren. You can call me either one. It's nice to meet you, Professor Rey Kenobi."

Matching his smile, she shook his hand firmly. "The pleasure is mine, Professor Ben-Kylo-Solo-Ren."

* * *

A few months later saw Kylo settling down in his office chair for the first time that day. He had only started his new job a few weeks ago and the days were long and hard. His boss, Dr. Snoke, was ambitious to say the least. He was confident that Kylo would be able to make great strides in their research and that he would stay after his year was up. Frankly, Kylo didn't know what he wanted. The staff on hand were all imbecilic and angered him the few days he had been there.

He sighed deeply and ran his large hands through his hair. A light _ping_ of his phone distracted him from his bleak day. Reading the message, a smile spread across his face as he quickly began to pack his things. His eyes flickered to the picture framed on his desk next to his computer. A small eight-year-old Rey grinned maniacally as she clung to a tall ten-year-old Ben's back. 'Photograph Ben' looked exasperated to be giving the younger girl a piggyback but Kylo remembered that day fondly. Next to the old photo was a newer photo with a now adult Rey and Kylo, Rey still grinning as she held the camera to take a selfie with Kylo, who was smiling warmly at Rey.

Before he could reminisce any further, his phone started to vibrate. He hastily answered and started to lock up his office. "I'm leaving now. I'll be there in in a bit. See you soon, sunshine."

Kylo could practically hear Rey roll her eyes through the phone and smiled at the thought of her. He reached her apartment, still in the student housing area, within ten minutes, and let himself in. Inside, he was bathed in smoke as Rey ran around the kitchen, seemingly burning whatever she was preparing. He swiftly moved through the entrance and plucked the spatula from her hand, trying to salvage what was left of their dinner. Rey pouted next to him and wiped her brow.

She leaned against his arm and buried her face in the sleeve of his coat. "Missed you."

Kylo's mouth twitched upwards. "Missed you too."

Work and family side of Kylo's life seemed mediocre but with his Rey of sunshine back in his life, they didn't seem so bad. Things were going to be okay.


End file.
